Dr Pete Seaman is a part-time lecturer in Substance Use and Misuse within the Institute of Applied Health Research at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is also a Senior Public Health Research Specialist with the Glasgow Centre for Population Health. Research interests include normative alcohol use, life course transitions, resilience and knowledge transfer processes. Pete graduated from the University of Glasgow (First Class Honours in Sociology)in 1995 and completed his PhD at the Medical Research Council's Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in 2002. His thesis explored contemporary understandings of family life focussing on parental discipline styles and children and young people as generators of family social capital. Pete works as a qualitative sociologist in both academia and the NHS and has published on a broad range of research topics. Recent work includes a Joseph Rowntree Foundation supported study of young people, peer networks and decision making around alcohol consumption. A subsequent GCPH report "Creating Better Stories" explored a role for gender in shaping young adults’ experiences of alcohol consumption and was accompanied by "Alcohol Through Our Eyes", collected words and images from young people exploring their understandings of Scottish drinking culture. Other published work include journal articles exploring the transition to adulthood in relation to social capital and alcohol consumption ‘arcs’, experiences of early fatherhood, resilience in disadvantaged communities and facilitators and barriers to urban greenspace access.
This book is based on the research project that explored how young people use alcohol as they tra... more This book is based on the research project that explored how young people use alcohol as they transition to adulthood. As part of this study, focus groups were carried out with young people aged between 16 and 30. During these focus groups, the young people drew and created visual materials in the form of t-shirts, comic strips and speech bubbles. These have provided a rich insight into young adults' alcohol use and so this book was put together in order to showcase the young men and women's representations of alcohol, through their eyes
A doubling of alcohol related deaths in the last 15 years (ISD Scotland, 2011) indicates that act... more A doubling of alcohol related deaths in the last 15 years (ISD Scotland, 2011) indicates that action is required to reduce levels of alcohol consumption. A strong and pioneering set of polices have been laid out in the Scottish Government’s strategic document for tackling alcohol related harm; Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol. Although the evidence for the effectiveness of price and availability controls is strong at a population level, how these approaches will play-out across subgroups of the population is less well understood. Cutting beneath a national cultural relationship with alcohol are subgroup experiences where the role of alcohol is differentiated by class, gender, ethnicity and age cohort. In this report, we explore how a key population group, young adults, understand their relationship to alcohol and what influences their choices and behaviours.Further, we maintain a keen focus on a key factor which differentiates the experience of young adulthood – gender.
This paper explores emergent forms of participation in relation to spiritual and related activity... more This paper explores emergent forms of participation in relation to spiritual and related activity in order to assess the similarities and differences between traditional spiritual activity.
The exploratory research project sought to investigate whether, rather than a decline in social capital generation per se, there may be a change occurring in the places and activities that generate social capital and, if so, whether these new forms of social capital generation are more suited to current society than more traditional forms (such as traditional churches, the nuclear family and communities based around large industrial workplaces).
Key findings of this paper are:
* New forms of spiritual practice, while promoting health and wellbeing for individuals involved, are not yet at a stage at which they generate community level benefits. * New forms of spiritual practice are successful in simultaneously satisfying a need for deeper engagement with spiritual issues alongside a desire to maintain personal autonomy and be an author of one’s own belief. * Existing successful forms of informal voluntary activity should be recognised rather than seeking to create new structures for participation.
In the last few years, the everyday word ‘resilience’ has captured the attention and imagination ... more In the last few years, the everyday word ‘resilience’ has captured the attention and imagination of an increasing number of academics and professionals. Resilience has positive connotations and entails understanding and seeking out good outcomes for individuals or families in circumstances where problems were to be expected. Compared with the traditional study of child development, which has tended to portray ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ patterns, a resilience approach offers a more differentiated account. In professional practice, resilience means looking for strengths and opportunities to build on, rather than (or alongside) problems and deficits to be remedied or treated.
This review considers parents’ actual and potential contributions to children’s resilience and to parental resilience, which is sometimes subsumed within ‘family resilience’. However, since most publications are concerned with resilience in relation to children and young people, the specific role of parents often has to be inferred.
The review draws on important UK-based publications on resilience and includes more selective references to the comparatively huge American literature, as well as significant material from elsewhere.
This paper explores how the potential advantage and disadvantage in the local networks utilised b... more This paper explores how the potential advantage and disadvantage in the local networks utilised by parents in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods is understood. It does so through evidence presented by parents in communities in the West of Scotland, showing how they identify and use the social capital inherent within their communities toward the specific end of helping their children negotiate the risks that accompany increasing independence. It adds to the development of understanding social capital by showing how in environments in which social capital is perceived as low, adaptive parenting strategies are called for that ultimately put more pressure on less advantaged parents. Furthermore, it shows how parents and young people may be inventive in identifying community level resources in a manner which draws a slender distinction between risk and safety. This situation leaves parents and young people in a potential double bind, where strategies to improve young people’s life-chances through engagement with the local community involve an increased exposure to potential risks.
The Civic Conversation explores both the aspirations and the possibilities of living, and what is... more The Civic Conversation explores both the aspirations and the possibilities of living, and what is worth doing, to ensure that both Glasgow and Glaswegians flourish. The basic premise underlying this process is that the way a community talks to itself, how it forms its values, beliefs and policies ultimately influences how it behaves. It offers those with a stake in the future of the City an additional way to meet and discuss issues of strategic importance and how these might be effectively addressed. Some of these are based upon existing knowledge and concerns; others emerge through the conversation as it develops.
Background
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for ... more Background
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for people in urban areas, offering both opportunities for physical activity and wellbeing. Much research has explored the objectively measurable factors within areas to the end of explaining the role of greenspace access in continuing health inequalities. This paper explores the subjective reasons why people in urban areas choose to use, or not use, local public greenspace. Methods
In-depth interviews with 24 people living in two areas of Glasgow, United Kingdom were conducted, supplemented with participant photography and participatory methods. Data was thematically categorised to explore subjectively experienced facilitators and barriers to greenspace use in urban areas. Results
From the perspective of current and potential urban greenspace users, access is revealed to be about more than the physical characteristics of neighbourhoods, greenspace resources or objectively measurable features of walkability and connectivity. Subjectively, the idea of walkability includes perceptions of social cohesion at a community level and the level of felt integration and inclusion by individuals in their communities. Individual's feelings of integration and inclusion potentially mitigate the effects of experiential barriers to urban greenspace access, such as evidence of anti-social behaviour. Conclusions
We conclude that improving access to greenspace for all in urban communities will require more than providing high quality resources such as parks, footpaths, activities and lighting. Physical availability interacts with community contexts already established and a holistic understanding of access is required. A key cultural component of areas and neighbourhoods is the level of social cohesion, a factor that has the potential to reinforce existing health inequalities through shaping differentiated greenspace access between subgroups of the local population.
This report explores young adults’ decision-making around alcohol against a cultural backdrop of ... more This report explores young adults’ decision-making around alcohol against a cultural backdrop of historically high levels of consumption, affordability and availability in the UK.
How young people drink alcohol underpins rates of harm, which have been rising steadily in recent decades. Understanding the meaning and motivation behind young adults’ drinking habits will help predict future need. Policy-makers and health educationalists will be better informed to develop responses that make sense to younger drinkers. This report identifies the influence of both existing cultural attitudes around alcohol, and new and emergent attitudes that separate younger drinkers’ consumption from that of other age groups.
The report highlights: • a norm for excessive alcohol consumption in young adulthood; • how today’s young adults find it diffi cult to imagine alternatives to the excessive drinking that supports group socialising; • how the commercial alcohol offer made to young people contributes to the narrowing of their options; and • the influences of pricing on decision-making.
This study uses the accounts of parents supplemented by those of their children (aged 13-17) to d... more This study uses the accounts of parents supplemented by those of their children (aged 13-17) to develop understanding of the role of families in the production and garnering of social capital. In doing so, it draws on J. S. Coleman's hypotheses about the impact of single-parent households, parental work, siblings, and links between parents in different families on the social capital available to young people. The data suggest that non-traditional family forms do not necessarily represent deficits in social capital, but rather may actively utilize alternative supportive factors and structures via family processes and network associations not identified by Coleman. Material circumstances may be a greater constraint on access to social capital than family form. In addition, rather than representing a passive drain, young people can be identified as a resource in the development of community level social capital. Neighbourhood and community, together with links (networks) and understandings between families, are important in the task of parenting. These results suggest that Coleman's formulation of social capital reflects neither the reality of contemporary family life nor the agency of young people. However, his identification of the importance of between-family links may benefit future studies of social capital, parenting and the transition to adulthood
Understanding the meanings, associations and ideas of appropriateness that shape young adults' de... more Understanding the meanings, associations and ideas of appropriateness that shape young adults' decision-making around alcohol will assist in developing strategies to promote healthy consumption and anticipate rates of future harm. Increases in per capita consumption as well as the affordability and availability of alcohol suggest the cultural environment in which young adults become consumers of alcohol has changed in recent years. This qualitative study investigated the role of alcohol within the transitions to adulthood of 18–25 year olds living in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The findings support previous research that has identified excessive consumption of alcohol as a component of a normative understanding of life-course that positions young adulthood as liminal and offering a safe space for boundary pushing and identity exploration. However, exploring differences in the opportunity to enact taken-for-granted alcohol and life-course related norms highlights the limits of universal understandings of young adulthood across different socio-economic experiences of this age group in the United Kingdom. Inequalities in alcohol and life-course related risk are identified that should be of interest to policy-makers and educators in the field of alcohol. The broad implications for policy direction are discussed. The project was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The Lothian Emergency Contraception Project in Scotland was a radical intervention in which women... more The Lothian Emergency Contraception Project in Scotland was a radical intervention in which women aged 16-29 were given 5 packs of emergency contraception (EC) to keep at home. We use survey and qualitative interview data to describe how women used the project packs and their views of advance supplies. The women's accounts suggest that concerns that eased access to emergency contraception will lead to repeated use and risky sex appear to be largely unfounded. Women were pleased to be offered the packs, which were reported as having practical advantages and also sparing them the difficulty of negotiating a sometimes awkward consultation. Respondents explained how they used their packs of EC and in their accounts used justifications, repetition and distancing to emphasise that they would not take risks with contraception or sexually transmitted infections. We interpret the data in the light of the observation that EC has an anomalous role in contraception and the work of applied linguists Candlin and Lucas who have demonstrated the difficulties inherent in the family planning consultation.
The current economic situation in Glasgow is one with substantial growth in service sector employ... more The current economic situation in Glasgow is one with substantial growth in service sector employment and vacancies at a high. However, a significant number of the population remains marginalized from the labour market. Existing policies to tackle this marginalisation have attempted to remedy problems at the levels of individual skills and capacities (labour supply side) and stimulation of jobs growth (labour demand side). Successful though these approaches have been, there still remains a persistent core of the working age population who seem no nearer to finding sustained employment in the city economy. Preliminary research by the Full Employment Areas initiative (FEA) suggested that client’s social networks could be an additional factor contributing to labour market proximity and likelihood of attaining sustained employment, particularly when the networks are confined to small geographical areas characterised by high levels of worklessness. This research explored these networks through qualitative methods and aimed to build upon and contribute new knowledge of processes underpinning client’s participation in employment. The overall aim was to offer employability agencies better understanding of how to support and advise clients in a holistic manner
Branching Out is a 12-week ecotherapy programme for clients who use mental health services within... more Branching Out is a 12-week ecotherapy programme for clients who use mental health services within the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. Over the course of a year 110 clients attended the programme, of whom 77 (70%) completed the course. In order to ascertain the outcomes of the programme and the elements that appeared to facilitate change, semi-structured interviews with clients (n = 28) and two focus groups with clinicians (n = 5 and n = 3) from the referring services were conducted. The data gathered therein was analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). From the results, five themes emerged as client outcomes. These were: improvements to mental well-being, improvements to physical health, provision of daily structure and routine, transferable knowledge and skill acquisition, and increased social networking and social skills development. Three themes pertaining to the service logistics (team building and social inclusion, contrast of environments and work and recognition) emerged as potential explanations for the client outcomes. There was a perception among clients and clinicians that Branching Out represented a ‘stepping stone to further community engagement’. The results reflect a recovery-oriented approach to health care. The limitations of the evaluation and implications for the future are discussed.
This study discusses young couples’ interactions with maternity and health services paying partic... more This study discusses young couples’ interactions with maternity and health services paying particular attention to men’s perspectives. Findings are based on research conducted in Scotland with men (aged 16–25) and their teenage partners (aged 16–19). Most young men were very involved in their child’s life and provided support and care to their partner during pregnancy and in early parenthood. Men often felt excluded or judged when accessing services, although positive experiences were reported too. The study discusses ways in which maternity and health services can be better attuned to meet the needs of young couples and be inclusive of men.
This book is based on the research project that explored how young people use alcohol as they tra... more This book is based on the research project that explored how young people use alcohol as they transition to adulthood. As part of this study, focus groups were carried out with young people aged between 16 and 30. During these focus groups, the young people drew and created visual materials in the form of t-shirts, comic strips and speech bubbles. These have provided a rich insight into young adults' alcohol use and so this book was put together in order to showcase the young men and women's representations of alcohol, through their eyes
A doubling of alcohol related deaths in the last 15 years (ISD Scotland, 2011) indicates that act... more A doubling of alcohol related deaths in the last 15 years (ISD Scotland, 2011) indicates that action is required to reduce levels of alcohol consumption. A strong and pioneering set of polices have been laid out in the Scottish Government’s strategic document for tackling alcohol related harm; Changing Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol. Although the evidence for the effectiveness of price and availability controls is strong at a population level, how these approaches will play-out across subgroups of the population is less well understood. Cutting beneath a national cultural relationship with alcohol are subgroup experiences where the role of alcohol is differentiated by class, gender, ethnicity and age cohort. In this report, we explore how a key population group, young adults, understand their relationship to alcohol and what influences their choices and behaviours.Further, we maintain a keen focus on a key factor which differentiates the experience of young adulthood – gender.
This paper explores emergent forms of participation in relation to spiritual and related activity... more This paper explores emergent forms of participation in relation to spiritual and related activity in order to assess the similarities and differences between traditional spiritual activity.
The exploratory research project sought to investigate whether, rather than a decline in social capital generation per se, there may be a change occurring in the places and activities that generate social capital and, if so, whether these new forms of social capital generation are more suited to current society than more traditional forms (such as traditional churches, the nuclear family and communities based around large industrial workplaces).
Key findings of this paper are:
* New forms of spiritual practice, while promoting health and wellbeing for individuals involved, are not yet at a stage at which they generate community level benefits. * New forms of spiritual practice are successful in simultaneously satisfying a need for deeper engagement with spiritual issues alongside a desire to maintain personal autonomy and be an author of one’s own belief. * Existing successful forms of informal voluntary activity should be recognised rather than seeking to create new structures for participation.
In the last few years, the everyday word ‘resilience’ has captured the attention and imagination ... more In the last few years, the everyday word ‘resilience’ has captured the attention and imagination of an increasing number of academics and professionals. Resilience has positive connotations and entails understanding and seeking out good outcomes for individuals or families in circumstances where problems were to be expected. Compared with the traditional study of child development, which has tended to portray ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ patterns, a resilience approach offers a more differentiated account. In professional practice, resilience means looking for strengths and opportunities to build on, rather than (or alongside) problems and deficits to be remedied or treated.
This review considers parents’ actual and potential contributions to children’s resilience and to parental resilience, which is sometimes subsumed within ‘family resilience’. However, since most publications are concerned with resilience in relation to children and young people, the specific role of parents often has to be inferred.
The review draws on important UK-based publications on resilience and includes more selective references to the comparatively huge American literature, as well as significant material from elsewhere.
This paper explores how the potential advantage and disadvantage in the local networks utilised b... more This paper explores how the potential advantage and disadvantage in the local networks utilised by parents in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods is understood. It does so through evidence presented by parents in communities in the West of Scotland, showing how they identify and use the social capital inherent within their communities toward the specific end of helping their children negotiate the risks that accompany increasing independence. It adds to the development of understanding social capital by showing how in environments in which social capital is perceived as low, adaptive parenting strategies are called for that ultimately put more pressure on less advantaged parents. Furthermore, it shows how parents and young people may be inventive in identifying community level resources in a manner which draws a slender distinction between risk and safety. This situation leaves parents and young people in a potential double bind, where strategies to improve young people’s life-chances through engagement with the local community involve an increased exposure to potential risks.
The Civic Conversation explores both the aspirations and the possibilities of living, and what is... more The Civic Conversation explores both the aspirations and the possibilities of living, and what is worth doing, to ensure that both Glasgow and Glaswegians flourish. The basic premise underlying this process is that the way a community talks to itself, how it forms its values, beliefs and policies ultimately influences how it behaves. It offers those with a stake in the future of the City an additional way to meet and discuss issues of strategic importance and how these might be effectively addressed. Some of these are based upon existing knowledge and concerns; others emerge through the conversation as it develops.
Background
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for ... more Background
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for people in urban areas, offering both opportunities for physical activity and wellbeing. Much research has explored the objectively measurable factors within areas to the end of explaining the role of greenspace access in continuing health inequalities. This paper explores the subjective reasons why people in urban areas choose to use, or not use, local public greenspace. Methods
In-depth interviews with 24 people living in two areas of Glasgow, United Kingdom were conducted, supplemented with participant photography and participatory methods. Data was thematically categorised to explore subjectively experienced facilitators and barriers to greenspace use in urban areas. Results
From the perspective of current and potential urban greenspace users, access is revealed to be about more than the physical characteristics of neighbourhoods, greenspace resources or objectively measurable features of walkability and connectivity. Subjectively, the idea of walkability includes perceptions of social cohesion at a community level and the level of felt integration and inclusion by individuals in their communities. Individual's feelings of integration and inclusion potentially mitigate the effects of experiential barriers to urban greenspace access, such as evidence of anti-social behaviour. Conclusions
We conclude that improving access to greenspace for all in urban communities will require more than providing high quality resources such as parks, footpaths, activities and lighting. Physical availability interacts with community contexts already established and a holistic understanding of access is required. A key cultural component of areas and neighbourhoods is the level of social cohesion, a factor that has the potential to reinforce existing health inequalities through shaping differentiated greenspace access between subgroups of the local population.
This report explores young adults’ decision-making around alcohol against a cultural backdrop of ... more This report explores young adults’ decision-making around alcohol against a cultural backdrop of historically high levels of consumption, affordability and availability in the UK.
How young people drink alcohol underpins rates of harm, which have been rising steadily in recent decades. Understanding the meaning and motivation behind young adults’ drinking habits will help predict future need. Policy-makers and health educationalists will be better informed to develop responses that make sense to younger drinkers. This report identifies the influence of both existing cultural attitudes around alcohol, and new and emergent attitudes that separate younger drinkers’ consumption from that of other age groups.
The report highlights: • a norm for excessive alcohol consumption in young adulthood; • how today’s young adults find it diffi cult to imagine alternatives to the excessive drinking that supports group socialising; • how the commercial alcohol offer made to young people contributes to the narrowing of their options; and • the influences of pricing on decision-making.
This study uses the accounts of parents supplemented by those of their children (aged 13-17) to d... more This study uses the accounts of parents supplemented by those of their children (aged 13-17) to develop understanding of the role of families in the production and garnering of social capital. In doing so, it draws on J. S. Coleman's hypotheses about the impact of single-parent households, parental work, siblings, and links between parents in different families on the social capital available to young people. The data suggest that non-traditional family forms do not necessarily represent deficits in social capital, but rather may actively utilize alternative supportive factors and structures via family processes and network associations not identified by Coleman. Material circumstances may be a greater constraint on access to social capital than family form. In addition, rather than representing a passive drain, young people can be identified as a resource in the development of community level social capital. Neighbourhood and community, together with links (networks) and understandings between families, are important in the task of parenting. These results suggest that Coleman's formulation of social capital reflects neither the reality of contemporary family life nor the agency of young people. However, his identification of the importance of between-family links may benefit future studies of social capital, parenting and the transition to adulthood
Understanding the meanings, associations and ideas of appropriateness that shape young adults' de... more Understanding the meanings, associations and ideas of appropriateness that shape young adults' decision-making around alcohol will assist in developing strategies to promote healthy consumption and anticipate rates of future harm. Increases in per capita consumption as well as the affordability and availability of alcohol suggest the cultural environment in which young adults become consumers of alcohol has changed in recent years. This qualitative study investigated the role of alcohol within the transitions to adulthood of 18–25 year olds living in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The findings support previous research that has identified excessive consumption of alcohol as a component of a normative understanding of life-course that positions young adulthood as liminal and offering a safe space for boundary pushing and identity exploration. However, exploring differences in the opportunity to enact taken-for-granted alcohol and life-course related norms highlights the limits of universal understandings of young adulthood across different socio-economic experiences of this age group in the United Kingdom. Inequalities in alcohol and life-course related risk are identified that should be of interest to policy-makers and educators in the field of alcohol. The broad implications for policy direction are discussed. The project was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
The Lothian Emergency Contraception Project in Scotland was a radical intervention in which women... more The Lothian Emergency Contraception Project in Scotland was a radical intervention in which women aged 16-29 were given 5 packs of emergency contraception (EC) to keep at home. We use survey and qualitative interview data to describe how women used the project packs and their views of advance supplies. The women's accounts suggest that concerns that eased access to emergency contraception will lead to repeated use and risky sex appear to be largely unfounded. Women were pleased to be offered the packs, which were reported as having practical advantages and also sparing them the difficulty of negotiating a sometimes awkward consultation. Respondents explained how they used their packs of EC and in their accounts used justifications, repetition and distancing to emphasise that they would not take risks with contraception or sexually transmitted infections. We interpret the data in the light of the observation that EC has an anomalous role in contraception and the work of applied linguists Candlin and Lucas who have demonstrated the difficulties inherent in the family planning consultation.
The current economic situation in Glasgow is one with substantial growth in service sector employ... more The current economic situation in Glasgow is one with substantial growth in service sector employment and vacancies at a high. However, a significant number of the population remains marginalized from the labour market. Existing policies to tackle this marginalisation have attempted to remedy problems at the levels of individual skills and capacities (labour supply side) and stimulation of jobs growth (labour demand side). Successful though these approaches have been, there still remains a persistent core of the working age population who seem no nearer to finding sustained employment in the city economy. Preliminary research by the Full Employment Areas initiative (FEA) suggested that client’s social networks could be an additional factor contributing to labour market proximity and likelihood of attaining sustained employment, particularly when the networks are confined to small geographical areas characterised by high levels of worklessness. This research explored these networks through qualitative methods and aimed to build upon and contribute new knowledge of processes underpinning client’s participation in employment. The overall aim was to offer employability agencies better understanding of how to support and advise clients in a holistic manner
Branching Out is a 12-week ecotherapy programme for clients who use mental health services within... more Branching Out is a 12-week ecotherapy programme for clients who use mental health services within the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. Over the course of a year 110 clients attended the programme, of whom 77 (70%) completed the course. In order to ascertain the outcomes of the programme and the elements that appeared to facilitate change, semi-structured interviews with clients (n = 28) and two focus groups with clinicians (n = 5 and n = 3) from the referring services were conducted. The data gathered therein was analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). From the results, five themes emerged as client outcomes. These were: improvements to mental well-being, improvements to physical health, provision of daily structure and routine, transferable knowledge and skill acquisition, and increased social networking and social skills development. Three themes pertaining to the service logistics (team building and social inclusion, contrast of environments and work and recognition) emerged as potential explanations for the client outcomes. There was a perception among clients and clinicians that Branching Out represented a ‘stepping stone to further community engagement’. The results reflect a recovery-oriented approach to health care. The limitations of the evaluation and implications for the future are discussed.
This study discusses young couples’ interactions with maternity and health services paying partic... more This study discusses young couples’ interactions with maternity and health services paying particular attention to men’s perspectives. Findings are based on research conducted in Scotland with men (aged 16–25) and their teenage partners (aged 16–19). Most young men were very involved in their child’s life and provided support and care to their partner during pregnancy and in early parenthood. Men often felt excluded or judged when accessing services, although positive experiences were reported too. The study discusses ways in which maternity and health services can be better attuned to meet the needs of young couples and be inclusive of men.
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Papers by Pete Seaman
The exploratory research project sought to investigate whether, rather than a decline in social capital generation per se, there may be a change occurring in the places and activities that generate social capital and, if so, whether these new forms of social capital generation are more suited to current society than more traditional forms (such as traditional churches, the nuclear family and communities based around large industrial workplaces).
Key findings of this paper are:
* New forms of spiritual practice, while promoting health and wellbeing for individuals involved, are not yet at a stage at which they generate community level benefits.
* New forms of spiritual practice are successful in simultaneously satisfying a need for deeper engagement with spiritual issues alongside a desire to maintain personal autonomy and be an author of one’s own belief.
* Existing successful forms of informal voluntary activity should be recognised rather than seeking to create new structures for participation.
outcomes for individuals or families in circumstances where problems were to be expected. Compared with the traditional study of child development, which has tended to portray ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ patterns, a resilience approach offers a
more differentiated account. In professional practice, resilience means looking for strengths and opportunities to build on, rather than (or alongside) problems and deficits to be remedied or treated.
This review considers parents’ actual and potential contributions to children’s resilience and to parental resilience, which is sometimes subsumed within ‘family resilience’. However, since most publications are concerned with resilience in relation
to children and young people, the specific role of parents often has to be inferred.
The review draws on important UK-based publications on resilience and includes more selective references to the comparatively huge American literature, as well as significant material from elsewhere.
social capital inherent within their communities toward the specific end of helping their children negotiate the risks that accompany increasing independence. It adds to the development of understanding social capital by
showing how in environments in which social capital is perceived as low, adaptive parenting strategies are called for that ultimately put more pressure on less advantaged parents. Furthermore, it shows how parents and young people may be inventive in identifying community level resources in a manner
which draws a slender distinction between risk and safety. This situation leaves parents and young people in a potential double bind, where strategies to improve young people’s life-chances through engagement with the local community involve an increased exposure to potential risks.
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for people in urban areas, offering both opportunities for physical activity and wellbeing. Much research has explored the objectively measurable factors within areas to the end of explaining the role of greenspace access in continuing health inequalities. This paper explores the subjective reasons why people in urban areas choose to use, or not use, local public greenspace.
Methods
In-depth interviews with 24 people living in two areas of Glasgow, United Kingdom were conducted, supplemented with participant photography and participatory methods. Data was thematically categorised to explore subjectively experienced facilitators and barriers to greenspace use in urban areas.
Results
From the perspective of current and potential urban greenspace users, access is revealed to be about more than the physical characteristics of neighbourhoods, greenspace resources or objectively measurable features of walkability and connectivity. Subjectively, the idea of walkability includes perceptions of social cohesion at a community level and the level of felt integration and inclusion by individuals in their communities. Individual's feelings of integration and inclusion potentially mitigate the effects of experiential barriers to urban greenspace access, such as evidence of anti-social behaviour.
Conclusions
We conclude that improving access to greenspace for all in urban communities will require more than providing high quality resources such as parks, footpaths, activities and lighting. Physical availability interacts with community contexts already established and a holistic understanding of access is required. A key cultural component of areas and neighbourhoods is the level of social cohesion, a factor that has the potential to reinforce existing health inequalities through shaping differentiated greenspace access between subgroups of the local population.
How young people drink alcohol underpins rates of harm, which
have been rising steadily in recent decades. Understanding the meaning and motivation behind young adults’ drinking habits will help predict future need. Policy-makers and health educationalists will be better informed to develop responses that make sense to younger drinkers. This report identifies the influence of both existing cultural attitudes around alcohol, and new and emergent attitudes that separate younger drinkers’ consumption from that of other age groups.
The report highlights:
• a norm for excessive alcohol consumption in young adulthood;
• how today’s young adults find it diffi cult to imagine alternatives to the excessive drinking that supports group socialising;
• how the commercial alcohol offer made to young people contributes to the narrowing of their options; and
• the influences of pricing on decision-making.
Preliminary research by the Full Employment Areas initiative (FEA) suggested that client’s social networks could be an additional factor contributing to labour market proximity and likelihood of attaining sustained employment, particularly when the networks are confined to small geographical areas characterised by high levels of worklessness. This research explored these networks through qualitative methods and aimed to build upon and contribute new knowledge of processes underpinning client’s participation in employment. The overall aim was to offer employability agencies better understanding of how to support and advise clients in a holistic manner
The exploratory research project sought to investigate whether, rather than a decline in social capital generation per se, there may be a change occurring in the places and activities that generate social capital and, if so, whether these new forms of social capital generation are more suited to current society than more traditional forms (such as traditional churches, the nuclear family and communities based around large industrial workplaces).
Key findings of this paper are:
* New forms of spiritual practice, while promoting health and wellbeing for individuals involved, are not yet at a stage at which they generate community level benefits.
* New forms of spiritual practice are successful in simultaneously satisfying a need for deeper engagement with spiritual issues alongside a desire to maintain personal autonomy and be an author of one’s own belief.
* Existing successful forms of informal voluntary activity should be recognised rather than seeking to create new structures for participation.
outcomes for individuals or families in circumstances where problems were to be expected. Compared with the traditional study of child development, which has tended to portray ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ patterns, a resilience approach offers a
more differentiated account. In professional practice, resilience means looking for strengths and opportunities to build on, rather than (or alongside) problems and deficits to be remedied or treated.
This review considers parents’ actual and potential contributions to children’s resilience and to parental resilience, which is sometimes subsumed within ‘family resilience’. However, since most publications are concerned with resilience in relation
to children and young people, the specific role of parents often has to be inferred.
The review draws on important UK-based publications on resilience and includes more selective references to the comparatively huge American literature, as well as significant material from elsewhere.
social capital inherent within their communities toward the specific end of helping their children negotiate the risks that accompany increasing independence. It adds to the development of understanding social capital by
showing how in environments in which social capital is perceived as low, adaptive parenting strategies are called for that ultimately put more pressure on less advantaged parents. Furthermore, it shows how parents and young people may be inventive in identifying community level resources in a manner
which draws a slender distinction between risk and safety. This situation leaves parents and young people in a potential double bind, where strategies to improve young people’s life-chances through engagement with the local community involve an increased exposure to potential risks.
Greenspace has the potential to be a vital resource for promoting healthy living for people in urban areas, offering both opportunities for physical activity and wellbeing. Much research has explored the objectively measurable factors within areas to the end of explaining the role of greenspace access in continuing health inequalities. This paper explores the subjective reasons why people in urban areas choose to use, or not use, local public greenspace.
Methods
In-depth interviews with 24 people living in two areas of Glasgow, United Kingdom were conducted, supplemented with participant photography and participatory methods. Data was thematically categorised to explore subjectively experienced facilitators and barriers to greenspace use in urban areas.
Results
From the perspective of current and potential urban greenspace users, access is revealed to be about more than the physical characteristics of neighbourhoods, greenspace resources or objectively measurable features of walkability and connectivity. Subjectively, the idea of walkability includes perceptions of social cohesion at a community level and the level of felt integration and inclusion by individuals in their communities. Individual's feelings of integration and inclusion potentially mitigate the effects of experiential barriers to urban greenspace access, such as evidence of anti-social behaviour.
Conclusions
We conclude that improving access to greenspace for all in urban communities will require more than providing high quality resources such as parks, footpaths, activities and lighting. Physical availability interacts with community contexts already established and a holistic understanding of access is required. A key cultural component of areas and neighbourhoods is the level of social cohesion, a factor that has the potential to reinforce existing health inequalities through shaping differentiated greenspace access between subgroups of the local population.
How young people drink alcohol underpins rates of harm, which
have been rising steadily in recent decades. Understanding the meaning and motivation behind young adults’ drinking habits will help predict future need. Policy-makers and health educationalists will be better informed to develop responses that make sense to younger drinkers. This report identifies the influence of both existing cultural attitudes around alcohol, and new and emergent attitudes that separate younger drinkers’ consumption from that of other age groups.
The report highlights:
• a norm for excessive alcohol consumption in young adulthood;
• how today’s young adults find it diffi cult to imagine alternatives to the excessive drinking that supports group socialising;
• how the commercial alcohol offer made to young people contributes to the narrowing of their options; and
• the influences of pricing on decision-making.
Preliminary research by the Full Employment Areas initiative (FEA) suggested that client’s social networks could be an additional factor contributing to labour market proximity and likelihood of attaining sustained employment, particularly when the networks are confined to small geographical areas characterised by high levels of worklessness. This research explored these networks through qualitative methods and aimed to build upon and contribute new knowledge of processes underpinning client’s participation in employment. The overall aim was to offer employability agencies better understanding of how to support and advise clients in a holistic manner